recommendation for new Access Points

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bernieke
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 11 Oct 2018
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 12:57    Post subject: recommendation for new Access Points Reply with quote
Hi,

I'm currently running dd-wrt on two WRT54GL devices.

I have two SSID (with their own interfaces), VLAN tagged over a single ethernet port.

I don't use routing, I have a dedicated pfsense device which does this.

I just installed an extra nest cam iq, and it looks like the wifi bandwidth is insufficient to get high quality streamed. (I only have 33% wifi quality for that camera according to dd-wrt.)

So I want to replace these WRT54GL with some faster modern Access Points.

Apart from this bandwidth problem, I've otherwise been extremely satisfied with my setup.

So I'm looking for two new Access Points to run dd-wrt on, which support dual VLAN tagged real SSIDs, have at least one gigabit port, and are very reliable. (I've never had to reboot my WRT54GLs since I put dd-wrt on them, and I'd like to keep not having to reboot my APs if at all possible.)

I'd like to keep this below around 200 euro per AP. The devices should be available to purchase in the EU, preferably from https://www.amazon.de

I've found the Linksys WRT32X, WRT1900ACS and Netgear R7800 AC2600 devices for instance.
But I'm unsure which would be the best device for my needs (dual SSID and very reliable wifi.) Any other suggestions are off course more than welcome as well.

Thanks,
Bernard
Sponsor
Alozaros
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 13:05    Post subject: Reply with quote
R7800 no doubt... with Kong builds kernel 3.18
there is a lot pros than cons about it...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
Meph1st0
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 19 Jun 2008
Posts: 27

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 13:42    Post subject: Re: recommendation for new Access Points Reply with quote
bernieke wrote:
I'm currently running dd-wrt on two WRT54GL devices.

I have two SSID (with their own interfaces), VLAN tagged over a single ethernet port.

I don't use routing, I have a dedicated pfsense device which does this.


Bernard, This is exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to do and I happen to be using a Netgear 7800 as suggested by Alozaros. I've had it for a while now and it's been a great wireless router but I've recently modified my network in almost the exact same fashion as you. I'm now using pfsense as my main router and firewall and I'm now only using my wireless router as an Access Point.

Could you help me to understand how you achieved your setup with multiple SSIDs on separate VLANs?

Be aware that from what I've read in the wiki, only Broadcom based hardware support port-based VLANs which I'm wondering if that's why your WRT54GL is working properly in this configuration. On the other hand I think port-based VLANs is different from simply VLAN tagging. Which it sounds like that's what you're doing. At any rate I can at least tell you that I believe the Netgear 7800 uses and Atheros chipset.

If I can get it working on my AP then I could definitely agree with Alozaros that the Netgear 7800 is the AP that you ought to upgrade to.
bernieke
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 11 Oct 2018
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 13:55    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is what I had written down when I configured mine:

Over telnet:
* nvram set vlan2ports="4 5"
* nvram set vlan2hwname=et0
* nvram commit
* reboot

Over www:
* setup - basic setup:
** disable dhcp server
** save
* wireless - basic settings:
** add virtual interface "public"
** add original interface "private" -> channel 11 for ap1, channel 1 for ap2
** save
* wireless - wireless security:
** configure wpa2-personal with aes for both SSID
** save
* setup - VLANs
** change VLAN of W to 0, assigned to None bridge
** change VLAN of 1,2,3,4 to 1, 2 and tagged, assigned to LAN bridge (both VLAN 1 and 2)
** save
* setup - networking
** create bridges br1 and br2
** save
** set ip/subnet for br1
** save & apply settings (wait for the router to reboot)
** add 4 interfaces to bridges
*** br1 eth1
*** br1 vlan1
*** br2 wl0.1
*** br2 vlan2
** set port setup wan port assignment to vlan0
** save & apply settings
* services - reboot router

Then on the switch:
* port config to TRUNK
* vlan config add port to vlan 2
Alozaros
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 14:37    Post subject: Reply with quote
do keep in mind those are settings for Broadcom device
different routers and chip vendors have different ports for WAN
R7800 Atheros/Quallcomm routers can also trunk ports and create VLAN's
using "swconfig" command instead...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 15:56    Post subject: Reply with quote
Maybe the R7800 is a bit overkill to only use as an Access point (although it is a great router)
Consider a cheaper Netgear R6400 or R7000 (those are broadcom)

_________________
Routers:Netgear R7000, R6400v1, R6400v2, EA6900 (XvortexCFE), E2000, E1200v1, WRT54GS v1.
Install guide R6400v2, R6700v3,XR300:https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316399
Install guide R7800/XR500: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320614
Forum Guide Lines (important read):https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
bernieke
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 11 Oct 2018
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:40    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the advice all.

I'm going to buy two R6400s. Seems like they should be more than fast enough for my need, and them being Broadcom should make it easier on myself to reproduce my current setup.
bernieke
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 11 Oct 2018
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
I finally got around to setting the routers up. I ended up with two R6400v2 (OTP)

Apart from a little snag with the latest stable Kong not having working VAP (which off course took me 6 hours of trying various stuff before I found out it's a firmware bug), it's now up and running (after upgrading to the latest Kong test build).

It's certainly a hell of a lot faster than the WRT54GL were. My cameras finally have the necessary bandwith to stream full quality, and also on my phone the internet is now much snappier.

I did have one problem where the router I had then setup dropped out last night. It was unreachable, the SSIDs no longer showed up, but all the lights seemed to indicate it still working. (The LAN light where it was hooked up to the rest of the network was still showing activity for instance.) I had to power it down and back up to get it working again.
This was still with the latest stable build by the way, so not even the "testing" build they're running now.
I've now set them to reboot nightly, hoping that will prevent the router from locking up again in the future. Still a bit disappointed here, the WRT54GL were rock solid in that aspect (they ran for years on end without a single reboot), and this was originally the reason I went to dd-wrt (well, Tomato before that really, but that's beside the point).
Anyhow, if the nightly reboot fixes it, I'll be plenty happy with the new setup.

Thanks all for the input!
egc
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 18 Mar 2014
Posts: 12837
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:17    Post subject: Reply with quote
I am using the latest kong build on my R6400v2 without a problem, but your setup is of course different than mine

When you have these kind of troubles it can be worthwhile to do a full reset by telnetting into your router and do:
nvram erase
reboot

Then put settings in manually

and yes VAP's are problematic in the build threads there are workarounds: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=318571

_________________
Routers:Netgear R7000, R6400v1, R6400v2, EA6900 (XvortexCFE), E2000, E1200v1, WRT54GS v1.
Install guide R6400v2, R6700v3,XR300:https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=316399
Install guide R7800/XR500: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=320614
Forum Guide Lines (important read):https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087
bernieke
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 11 Oct 2018
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:54    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, I kept having problems with the VAP.

So I gave up, sold the Netgears, and bought Ubiquiti Unifi APs instead. They only cost 20 euro more, and only took about an hour to setup (including adding a jail to my freenas for the controller).

Too bad, because my setup really was absolutely rock solid on the WRT54GLs.
Alozaros
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:02    Post subject: Reply with quote
yep i do agree Ubiquiti is a decent brand, and i tried their stuff back in the days, also was looking at their edge routers recently...., but how often they receive an updates, what is their OS and how reliable is according to their hardware and price/performance value ??
So, I decided to give a try to a second-hand R7800 and believe or not, no complains, so far so good... for a router i got for 80 quid, for its value it has excellent performance/reliability, especially with DDWRT Kong builds on it...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
ian5142
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 23 Oct 2013
Posts: 2318
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 18:13    Post subject: EdgeRouter X Reply with quote
I really like my EdgeRouter X. No wireless but it is a dual-core 800MHz, 256MB of RAM router for $50 US.

Very good performance for price ratio in my opinion. I plan on having it do my personal VPN connection soon, in addition to the QoS and NAT that it is already doing.

It runs EdgeOS, which I believe is linux based. It receives updates fairly frequently (last one was Nov 2018). QoS is decent straight out of the box. No need to configure like DD-WRT.

_________________
Before asking a question on the forums, update dd-wrt: Where do I download firmware? I suggest reading it all.
QCA Best WiFi Settings


Some dd-wrt wiki pages are up to date, others are not. PM me if you find an old one.

Atheros:
Netgear R7800 x3 - WDS AP / station, gateway, QoS
TP-Link Archer C7 v2 x2 - WDS Station
TP-Link TL-WDR3600 v1 - WDS Station
TP-Link 841nd v8 - NU
D-Link 615 C1/E3/I1 x 7 - 1 WDS station
D-Link 825 B1 - NU
D-Link 862L A1 x2 - WDS Station
Netgear WNDR3700v2 - NU
UBNT loco M2 x2 - airOS

Broadcom
Linksys EA6400 - Gateway, QoS
Asus N66U - AP
Netgear WNDR3700v3 - not used
MediaTek
UBNT EdgeRouter X - switch
Alozaros
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 6410
Location: UK, London, just across the river..

PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 14:02    Post subject: Reply with quote
well EdgeRouter X is a cool unit this the one i ve look on it sadly its just a DHCP/NAT and lack's of DNS witch i basically need...
just for the record back in the days i needed QoS but now i can perfectly live without it even when its turned off the router is shaping the traffic pretty well so no complains at all..sadly my ISP provides 200 Mbit Local + only 30-40Mbit External Internet in total DL, where UP is only 20 Mbit so use of QoS is impossible...

_________________
Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 55179 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 55303 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoH,Forced DNS,AP Isolation,4VLAN,Ad-Block,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 55363 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 55460 Gateway/SmartDNS/DoH,AD-Block,Firewall,Forced DNS,x3VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
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